Commercial real estate on upswing for Birmingham's Graham & Co.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Graham & Co. had 15 property sales for $12.6 million and 33 leases worth $8.1 million in the first quarter of 2012, confirming the company's expectations for the commercial real estate market coming off a strong two quarters at the end of 2011.

"The opening quarter activity is typically the slowest as year-end deals are completed giving a pop to the year-end," said Sonny Culp, broker and senior vice president at Graham.

Culp said Graham had three sales and 11 leases in March to end the quarter.

One of the sales was the Children's Aid Society's purchase of the 17,350-square-foot former Bodine corporate office and 50 parking spaces at 214 14th Ave. South for its new offices, after the asking price on the building was reduced from $1.6 million to $1.35 million. Graham's Sam Carroll represented the seller; Corporate Realty Services represented the buyer.

The new owners plan a major renovation.

In another transaction, Graham's Ogden Deaton represented the seller of 152 acres off Interstate 59 and Alabama 174 in St. Clair County near Springville to SBE Development for $1.7 million.

Deaton said the buyer is a group that owns the adjacent land. He said the group has not announced plans for the property, but the acreage purchased "is adjacent to the interstate and on ramp and gives them better access for their future development."

Culp said commercial companies in the Birmingham area are trying to get more properties sold and leased before new development can be justified. "Graham and other firms are seeing reduced inventory in some property categories and many landlords are seeing a stabilization of occupancies that point to a positive future," he said.

He said the rest of 2012 should see that happen, albeit slower than what most would want.

"Our pipeline of sales and leasing activity remains strong," he said.

Southpace deal

Southpace Properties Inc. said it has completed a building sale in Hoover that will become the new headquarters for Schaeffer Eye Center.

Southpace's Bill McDavid represented the owner of the 36,000-square-foot former RoomStore Furniture building at 1686 Montgomery Highway in a sale to Schaeffer Properties LLC, which was represented by Bill Clements of Retail Specialists.

Clements said Schaeffer, which operates a chain of optometry and eye care facilities and sponsors the annual Crawfish Boil music festival in Birmingham, plans to use the top floor of the building for its corporate offices and the ground floor for clinical and retail space.